The abduction and murder of a 10-year-old schoolboy in Patna by his adolescent friends spread shock waves across Bihar on Friday amid what seems like a renewed season of abductions in the state a month after the Nitish Kumar government returned to power promising fewer crimes.
The body of Amarjeet, a Class 5 student of S.K.S. Memorial High School in Patna, was recovered on Friday, four days after he was abducted and his family started receiving calls for a `5-lakh ransom. Two students — Aditya (Class 8) and Suraj (Class 11) — were arrested while three others allegedly involved in the crime were absconding.
“We wanted to make some money and so decided to carry out the abduction. We killed him (Amarjeet) an hour after taking him away and then started making calls for the money,” Adiyta told journalists after his arrest. “We originally planned to abduct a judge’s grandson living in the colony, but later gave up the idea fearing trouble,” he added. Amarjeet, son of a businessman, was abducted in Patna’s Saristabad area when he accompanied the accused to buy an iPod. He was strangled to death. His body, kept in a gunny sack, and his bicycle were recovered in nearby Sipara locality.
ADG of Bihar police, P.K. Thakur, recommended the case for speedy trial in a fast-track court. Patna City SP Manu Maharaj said: “We have got strong evidence and will try to get the strongest punishment to the accused”.
News of a slew of abduction cases came in from across Bihar throughout Friday. In Gaya, five-year-old Golu, the only son of a small businessman, has been untraced since his abduction two days ago and his family has been receiving calls for a ransom of `3 lakh.
The police on Friday recovered the body of a man, Dileep Kumar, three days after he was abducted in Dhamdaha, Purnea district. Businessman Ajit Kumar Shah of Samastipur was abducted and his motorcycle recovered on the road two days ago. In Sitamarhi, a man was abducted even as police were looking for his abducted son, complained the man’s wife, Khusbu Kumari.